1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a biodegradable landscape or garden fabric for inhibiting weed growth, improving moisture retention and improving appearance in garden environments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mulches of various sorts and landscape fabrics have been used for years to help enhance landscapes and vegetable gardens by inhibiting weed growth and improving moisture retention. Natural materials such as bark, leaves, compost, and even rocks are commonly used. Synthetic fabrics made from spunbond nonwovens and films can also be used.
Paper is commonly used alone for vegetable gardens, and under decorative mulches in landscapes. Newspapers are often used as they are readily available. This method works but is unsightly and tedious to apply. In recent years manufacturers have produced heavy paper mulch in roll form. Typically this heavy paper mulch has a large degree of recycled paper content. Also, while this heavy paper mulch helps to block weed growth and is biodegradable, the paper is generally very stiff when dry and very weak when wet.
Recently, there has been interest in the use of bio-based materials. There are bio-based and biodegradable fabrics made from poly(lactic acid) (PLA) currently available on the market.